Partners by Accident - More or Less
by Caitriona3
Summary: All she wanted was a trip to the mall without a five-point security nightmare. Trust Hydra to pick today for terrorist activity.


_Author's Note – This story hit me on the drive to work and then demanded it be written. I don't even begin to know why._

SHIELD going kablooey and the Winter Soldier on the loose…it was all they talked about.

Okay, okay, Darcy got it, really. Yes, it was kind of a big deal that SHIELD's exposure (and all of its secrets more to the point) headlined every newspaper and breaking news report on television and the internet. Yes, the fact that the Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, aka Captain America's presumed dead best friend, was now uncontrolled and on the run made everybody a little touchy because he was a loose cannon. She got it – life-altering news.

Did it have to be the topic of every conversation for the past month?

Weren't they allowed a break?

Maybe she should get them all a puppy to take their minds off of it for two seconds?

Whatever. Darcy understood everyone's anxiety, but she could not stand being cooped up in the Tower for one more day. Yes the Tower possessed everything a person might need – from food to shopping to games to JARVIS. It was as self-contained as any building could possibly be.

And she felt trapped.

Today, thought, today she put her foot down and flat insisted she intended to go to the mall…_by herself_. No bodyguards, no tails, no nothing – she was a big girl and she could handle it. Did she believe they would listen to her? Not particularly, but as long as she didn't know for sure, then she could pretend she was just another carefree New Yorker out on a spree. It felt wonderful…the sheer freedom intoxicating after so long spent within the Tower confines.

She should have known it was too good to be true.

Gunshots rang out. Darcy ducked and took shelter behind a low wall as she peered around trying to pinpoint the source. Other people near her began to look around instead of seeking to hide or run. She rolled her eyes. "Civilians," she muttered before she hollered out, "Get down or head for the nearest exit!" Some people began moving while others looked at her with confused expressions. Still others ignored her as they continued to look towards the gunshots. "God spare me from idiots." Pulling out her phone, she started to dial 911. Before she could even get the screen unlocked, a woman in front of the store across the walkway went down, blood erupting spattering across the glass window. Darcy began to tremble.

Before she could freak out entirely, two kids ran out to the woman and began shaking her. "Miss Penny! Miss Penny!"

That's when Darcy took a second look at the place. It was a kid drop – a place for mothers to drop off their kids while shopping. "Oh, my God." Forgetting about her unfinished call and pushing her own fears away, Darcy moved to look around the wall. Not seeing anyone suspicious, she sprinted across the way and scooped up the now crying kids. A bullet buzzed past her ear and she flinched, barely managing to keep hold of the children. She rushed into the childcare and her eyes scanned for another adult. There wasn't one.

"What the-?"

She cut herself off and looked at the kids who were staring back at her. Putting the two in her arms down by the other three, she knelt and looked at the oldest child. The boy looked around six, maybe seven years old. "Hey," she gave him a bracing smile. "Where are the adults?" He stared at her through wide, glistening eyes and she reached up to brush her hand down his hair. "I know you're scared, sweetie, and I'm going to take care of you, but I need to know, okay?" He nodded, so she repeated her question. "Where are the adults?"

"Miss P-P-Penny is…is…there," he pointed, stuttering as he tried to answer her. "Mr. Bobby…he ran out the back."

Outrage welled up in her breast, but she forced herself to remain calm. She didn't want to scare the kids. Then one little girl shrieked. Darcy's eyes snapped to her, but the little girl looked towards the door. Darcy turned and rose to her feet as a masked figure with a gun stepped inside. The children huddled behind her; she could feel them pressing up against the back of her legs. Her chin went up even as her hands went down in a shielding gesture she knew would prove futile even as she did it.

The figure raised the gun, slow and precise – playing with her. Her voice locked in her throat as he took aim. "Hail Hydra," came the amused voice. A tremor ran down her spine, but she didn't move, didn't look away.

A shot rang out.

She jumped, giving a strangled squeak, but watched in disbelief as the masked figure dropped like a puppet without strings. Silence reigned, only broken by an occasional sniffle from one of the children, as she stared in an uncomprehending relief. She should be dead. What…? Who…? Another figure stalked into the facility and her eyes grew wide as she took in the tall frame topped with shaggy brown hair and face half in shadow from a baseball cap. It wasn't enough of a disguise – not for her anyway.

Cold blue eyes met hers, distracting her momentarily as they raked her from head to toe before moving to scan the children. His head turned at renewed gunfire in the main mall. "Time to go," he stated, his low voice holding a note of command.

"Go...where?" she asked as she tried to touch each of the children, corralling them close to her. Her mind whirled. The Winter Soldier had just saved her life as well as the children's and now seemed to be planning on helping them escape.

He remained silent for a moment as he moved to scan the mall. A shake of his head preceded his turn, but didn't give enough warning before she found herself pinned by that intense gaze once more. And she thought Clint was tough! "Back," was all he said in reply.

Darcy reached down and picked up the smallest child, a girl of two maybe. Thankful beyond all reckoning that there were no infants, she began to herd the kids towards the back of the store. She could feel him watching her for a moment before she heard him start to follow. He stayed a few feet behind her as they reached the store room, but stopped long enough to lock and barricade the door once they were inside.

"Is it safe outside?" she asked, her voice low as she waited for him to catch up. She wanted out – she wanted to get these kids to safety and then find some corner to curl up in for a good breakdown. Her eyes focused on the open door in the back of the small employee area. Apparently 'Mr. Bobby' not only abandoned his charges, but he didn't bother to try and keep them safe by even closing the damn door. She made a note to herself – if she got out of this, she would have JARVIS find out who this 'Mr. Bobby' was and then she was going to arrange for him to get the fright of his life followed by an arrest if she could figure out the charges.

Bucky…Soldier…whoever he was at the moment – her new companion made his way to the door, peering outside. Then he stepped back, closing the door as he ducked. She heard the bullets and dropped into a crouch beside the children. Her gaze remained on him as he locked that door as well before turning to look at her. "No."

"Great," she muttered. "Just great." She looked around and found and spotted a small washing area. This wasn't common for the mall stores, but she guessed they had to do some renovations and retrofits in order to be up to childcare code. Gathering the kids together she had them sit underneath the sink area and then began to glance around for any kind of material she could use to create some kind of protection for them. "Okay, kids, I know you're scared, but we're going to keep you safe. Can you tell me your names?"

"Not suppos'd give names to stwangers," one little girl lisped at her, chocolate brown eyes wide and serious.

Darcy had to smile in spite of everything. "I know, sweetheart," she agreed, "but this is a special occasion. How about I give you my name first, okay?" They nodded and she knelt in front of them once more. "My name's Darcy Lewis, but you can call me Darcy."

"What about him?" the girl asked, pointing over Darcy's shoulder.

She turned and met his startled gaze. From the looks of it, he didn't expect to be included in the conversation. Darcy stared at him for a long moment before turning back to the children. "That's…James," she replied, not sure what else to say. 'Bucky' might be too familiar while 'Soldier' would only confuse them.

"Mr. James make bad guys go away?" asked another little boy.

"He's…working on it," she answered, trying to wind her way through their curiosity without having to either lie or scare anyone – including the armed man behind her.

"P'liceman, Miss Darcy?"

"No," she shook her head. "He's….he's a…solider." A sharp indrawn breath behind her caused her shoulders to grow tense, but she kept her focus on the kids. "Now, you know our names – what are yours?"

"I'm Peter," the oldest boy replied, eyes much too serious for such a tiny kid. He gestured to the towheaded boy beside him. "This is my brother Steve." Again she forced herself to ignore the sound behind her back.

The little girl with chocolate brown eyes introduced herself as Shayna and then said the littlest girl's name was Willow. The last child, a girl with bright red hair and green eyes, gave her name as Maire.

"You kids are doing great," Darcy praised them, reaching out once more to touch each of them. It was the only thing she could think to do. "You stay here while I go and talk to Mr. James, okay?" They nodded, still scared, but more relaxed than before. Her gaze shifted over to meet an intense blue one. He lifted a brow at her as she moved closer to him. "Are we safe….temporarily, anyway?" she whispered, glancing at the children before focusing on him again. He considered her question for a moment, moving to listen at both doors before giving her a nod. "Good," she sighed. "Now then, to call for the cavalry." Taking out her phone, she began to punch in numbers. An actual call might make her feel better, but this code would go to all of their phones at the same time. "Hallelujah for panic buttons," she muttered.

"Cavalry?"

His question drew her attention. She opened her mouth, closed it, considered and then, "So, do I call you James, or what?" she asked. He gave a slow nod and she smiled. "Okay, then, James, I've got some friends who can help. I just sent the code so they know to suit up and come make with the superheroing."

He gave her a long steady stare. "The man with the shield," he said and then stopped to watch her.

"Steve," she agreed after a moment. A frown furrowed his brow, but he remained silent. She shrugged, "And he'll bring the rest of the team too. Those goons won't stand a chance." They heard the gunfire pick up outside once more. She flinched. "We just need to survive until then." A thought struck her even as she turned back towards the children. She spun around. "Hey! How did you know…?" Her voice trailed off.

"Followed you," he answered, shifting and putting a hand on her arm. He maneuvered her closer to the kids. "Stay down."

"You followed me?" she demanded, even as she sat down and let the kids cuddle in as close as they could.

One corner of his mouth pulled into something close to an amused expression. "I need to talk to the man," he told her, still not using Steve's name.

"Oh my God, make a phone call!" she rolled her eyes. "There's no reason to start following people! If I'd spotted you and gone back, they'd never let me out." Now he almost smiled and real humor glinted in those eyes. She huffed at him. "Okay, fine, so the likelihood of me spotting you is pretty much the equivalent of finding a snowflake in the Sahara…still!"

More gunfire erupted and one bullet crashed through the door to fly into the opposite wall. James brought his gun up to point at the door. They waited, quiet and still, but allowed themselves to relax after a few moments. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Glad I followed now?"

"Smart a-." she started and then stopped, glancing at the kids. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Smart aleck."

A rusty chuckle escaped him. He looked as surprised as she to hear it, but a crash of thunder rattled the building before either could speak.

"Yes!" Darcy crowed. "Hello, cavalry!"

James pushed her and the children into the small corner by the sink as the room began to shake and dust drifted down. An explosion ripped through the building, blowing out one of their walls. Darcy covered the children as best she could while she felt James hovering over her, shielding all of them. When the dust settled, he rolled around to crouch in front of them, gun out and waiting for any potential trouble.

"Lady Darcy!" Thor's voice boomed through the open air.

She reached out and touched James' shoulder. "Don't shoot Thor, okay?" she told him, trying to interject a light note into her voice. He eyed her and she pointed to the blond giant striding into the room. "Don't shoot him."

Thor frowned at the picture before him and his shoulders straightened. "Lady Darcy?"

"Hey, Big Guy!" She gave him a big grin, relief making her giddy. "We're good." His eyes shifted to James and she waved him off. "He saved us, protected us."

Thor relaxed, a smile crossing his face. He strode forward and offered his hand to James. "You have my deepest thanks for your work here this day, warrior."

A look of surprise and confusion crossed James' face, but he accepted the handshake. Another rumble snapped his head around. "More trouble?"

"Nay," Thor shook his head. "Friend Hulk is merely expressing his displeasure with these miscreants who brought such destruction to this place."

"We need to get these kids out of here," Darcy interrupted. "Hulk can have all the fun he wants, but I want these kids somewhere safe as soon as possible."

"Of course, Lady Darcy." Thor led them out, the children huddling around Darcy like little ducklings seeking shelter under their mother's wings while James brought up the rear, watchful for any further attacks. Even though they were now safe from Hydra, things got a little chaotic between medics, panicking parents, and the police. It took a while, but they managed to reunite all the children with a parent or family member – Darcy making sure to get contact information as well as giving the children her phone number so they could call her.

A couple of hours after that Darcy and James sat in a conference room in the Tower. Darcy explained the story for the third time. When someone started to ask another question, she smacked the tabletop. "Enough!" Drawing in a deep breath, she rose to her feet and stared them all down. "I am tired and filthy. I need a shower, a change of clothes, and some food. So does he." She pointed at James. "We've had a damn difficult day and I'm fed up of recovering the exact same story. If you want to hear it again, have JARVIS play it back for you." Her gaze swept the room. "You're scared, you're worried, I get it, but all I can say is that he kept me from getting shot…" She trembled, but forced herself still. "And then he got me and the kids to safety. He kept us safe." Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I don't know what else to tell you."

The team remained silent, staring at her for a long moment before Steve nodded. His eyes met James'. "You can use my shower and I'm sure I can find something that will fit. We can all meet back for dinner and any new questions."

"As long as we all get that I'm not repeating myself again," Darcy warned, her hands going to her hips. She was tired of reliving everything over and over.

"Understood," Steve agreed, giving her an understanding smile.

"Good," she huffed as she led the way out of the room, "because I damn well deserve a break and I am going to get one if I have to throw a temper tantrum to put Tony to shame."

"I do not throw tantrums!" Tony yelled at her.

"You keep telling yourself that!" she called back before slanting a glance at James. "He is seriously the toddler of the bunch."

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to!" Darcy gave James a bright smile as he gave another rusty chuckle. "Don't worry, this entire bunch is insane." James' eyes shifted to Steve and she laughed. "Oh, he's the worst," she replied to the unvoiced question in a merry voice. "After all, he accepted responsibility for us all."

"I don't know whether to smile or not," Steve sighed. "I'm glad you're here," he told James, "but then again…" He paused for a moment, eyes shifting to Darcy. "She's already corrupting you."

"Ah, come on, Cap," Darcy poked him. "You love me."

The hint of what might have been a grin flashed over James' face.

Steve rubbed one hand over his own face as they stepped into the elevator. "I'm doomed."


End file.
